


Stay Behind

by baileyrayne



Category: The Brave (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Family, Friendship, Gen, Slow Burn, Team, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 03:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13472841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baileyrayne/pseuds/baileyrayne
Summary: “From what I understand, you were ready to shut the door with you still on the outside,” Dalton said, raising an eyebrow in question at her. He watched her take a deep breath and turn to watch Amir and McG talk smack while playing horseshoes.1x02 one-shot





	Stay Behind

**Author's Note:**

> Hey friends! Here's another little one-shot, this time focusing on 1x02 and the headcanon that Jaz was going to stay behind in Ukraine when she didn't immediately see Dalton and Preach heading torwards the helicopter.   
> Enjoy!

The team of five sat in the dark, abandoned warehouse while Dalton gave Cassie Connor enough blood to get them all home in one piece. The five of them tried to rack their brains to come up with an exit strategy that wouldn’t get anyone killed. Dalton sat next to Cassie while McG sat nearby to make sure the transfusion went smoothly. Amir leaned up against the truck, observing the team. Preach stood at the end of the truck, keeping an eye on the windows while Jaz sat on a table, lightly kicking her legs back and forth. 

“Here, you’re good to go, Top,” McG stood from his chair to take the IVs out of Dalton and Cassie’s arms. Preach turned to face the rest of the group with a contemplative look on his face.

“Hey, Top?” He said, and that was enough for Dalton to understand.

“You’re reading my mind. You think that will work?” He asked, making sure Preach felt the plan would get them all out of Ukraine. 

“I do.”

“Alright. We’ll use the truck as the top of trail. Right, Jaz, I want you to coordinate the exfil with the DIA. Have that chopper loiter five mikes out. On my signal, I want you and Amir to secure the LZ for touchdown,” Dalton directed, standing to gather his equipment together. “If my timing’s right, we should only be a few seconds behind you.” 

Amir came closer to the group to listen to Dalton’s instructions. “What’s the signal?” He asked while the rest of the team stood to gather their things. 

Jaz shook her head as she adjusted her grip on her rifle, “It won’t be subtle.” She had been a part of this team nearly three years and she learned quickly that Dalton’s signals tended to be big and loud. She remembers her first mission when they were in a similar situation, trying to get to their safe house. Dalton’s signal was to attach some C4 to an abandoned car on the other side of the city. They had been able to see the smoke from miles away. She was sure this signal would be similar in its nature. 

They split up, Preach and Dalton heading out to create a distraction while Amir, McG, Jaz, and Cassie stood by, awaiting their signal. 

“All right Jaz. Time to head to the LZ,” Dalton’s voice cut over the radio. 

“Copy.” They were on the move. The explosion went off, signaling to Jaz to head towards the helicopter. She saw Amir jump from the corner of her eye and huffed a laugh at the completely unsubtle signal. Mortem 2 to landed and Jaz was the first to the door, opening it and counting off as Amir, McG and Cassie jumped in. She stood in front of the door, searching for Dalton and Preach. Her eyes scanned her surroundings as her heart started to beat faster. 

“Come on, come on!” She whispered. 

“Mortem 2, you are clear of threats but not for long. Recommend immediate dust-off,” Noah’s voice cut through the comms, increasing the worry on Jaz’s face. “Mortem 2? Mortem 2!”

Jaz took a deep breath and turned to face the helicopter. She made eye contact with McG and went to shut the door, leaving her on the other side. McG’s eyes went wide and he reached to stop Jaz when Cassie pointed towards the trees and yelled, “There they are!”

Jaz turned sharply, letting out a sigh of relief as the rest of her team came towards her. “Four!” She counted, tapping Preach’s back. 

“Did you see the signal!” Dalton joked, giving a large grin. Jaz rolled her eyes and let out a sound of annoyance, tapping him in the back a little harder than she did the rest of her team.

“Five!” She counted, before hopping in behind her commanding officer. 

“Dammit Jaz,” McG said, looking at her with anger in his eyes. She silenced him with a glare and quick shake of her head. They were all on board, and she didn’t want to listen to the lecture she was sure McG wanted to give in response to her almost staying behind while the helicopter made its escape. She didn’t even realize that she was making that decision until she saw the look in McG’s eyes. She had already lost one team member, she didn’t know what would happen had she left Preach and Dalton behind. She knew that Dalton wouldn’t have left without her if their roles were reversed. However, she couldn’t quite reconcile the fact that she may not have stayed behind had it been someone else other than Dalton. 

Dalton watched McG and Jaz’s interaction, confused as to what he had missed. But it wasn’t the priority. The priority was getting to safety, and sending Cassie Connor home to heal. 

 

Later the next day, the team found themselves outside while Dalton grilled hamburgers and Preach was on the phone with his wife. Jaz was grabbing a beer from the cooler while Amir gathered the horseshoes for another round with McG. 

McG approached Dalton, taking a swig of his beer. Dalton looked up from the grill to see the serious look on McG’s face. “She wasn’t going to go,” McG stated.

“Who wasn’t going where?” Dalton asked, flipping a burger as he spoke.

“Jaz. She wasn’t going to follow us onto the helicopter. She was getting ready to shut the door with her on the outside before you and Preach came around the corner. She wasn’t going to go with us while you were still in hostile territory,” McG spoke quietly, watching as Jaz started to make her way over. “I don’t know what is between you guys, and I know I shouldn’t ask. But if she was willing to risk herself to stay behind for you, I think it’s something you need to know about. I’m not trying to tattle on her or cause any tension. But you need to know what she’s willing to risk for you.” 

McG gave Dalton a pat on the back before he stepped away. “Yo Amir! Double or nothing! You on?” He yelled, moving towards Amir and the horseshoes. 

Dalton turned towards Patton, thoughts from McG’s words weighing him down. He tried to get the dog to lay down with no success. “Hey, Patton. No. Lay down. Lay – this is pointless,” He muttered, tossing a piece of meat to the begging dog. 

“Seems like no one wants to listen to you,” Jaz interrupted, coming to stand next to Dalton. “Listen, I was wrong to question you when you were waiting on DC.”

“Well you were frustrated,” He said, seeing her side of the disagreement earlier the previous day. 

“I was wrong,” Jaz said, knowing she had messed up and willing to admit it. “Doing nothing was the right call. And it was your call. I’m sorry,” She continued. She could recognize when she was wrong and that she should have listened to her CO. He was in charge, and sometimes she forgot that they weren’t equals, but that he was her commanding officer and she had to listen to him. 

“What was that? I thought I heard something,” He teased, holding the tongs up to his ear. Jaz laughed and brushed it off. She could tell the argument was in the past and that lifted a weight of her shoulder. She didn’t do well when she was at odds with Dalton. 

“Look, when I was a kid, my old may used to get sloppy as hell. Only thing I could do was wait. Just sit there, take whatever he threw at me. Let it pass. Sometimes all you can do is wait,” Dalton said, his tone serious again. 

“People like us don’t do powerless very well,” Jaz said, looking at Dalton for a moment.

“You think?” He said, turning to face her head on. “Was staying behind and not getting into the helicopter part of maintaining power and control?” He asked, McG’s words at the front of his mind. Jaz startled slightly, surprised at the change in topic. 

“McG say something?” She muttered, glaring at the man in question. She thought if he was going to say anything about her unconscious decision, it would be to her and that she would be able to brush him off like usual. Instead, it appeared that he went straight to Dalton. She didn’t know if he did it out of worry or annoyance, but either way, she didn’t appreciate it. Jaz took a step back from Dalton, trying to put both physical and emotional distance between them. 

“From what I understand, you were ready to shut the door with you still on the outside,” Dalton said, raising an eyebrow in question at her. He watched her take a deep breath and turn to watch Amir and McG talk smack while playing horseshoes. 

“Top…” She said, trailing off. She couldn’t explain her actions, and it drove her crazy. 

“You should have been on the right side of that door. What was your plan if we hadn’t shown up?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until McG yelled at me. But then Cassie pointed you out and it wasn’t an issue anymore. We all got out of there and that’s what matters, right?” Jaz responded, trying to brush it under the rug. She didn’t have the words to explain herself, she couldn’t even explain it to herself. 

“Jaz…” Dalton began, trying to find his words. He knew that he would have done the same if he were in her shoes, and like her, it scared him. “Jaz. Whatever the reasoning is, don’t let it make that decision again. If you have a way out, and I, or DC, tells you to go, you go. That’s an order.”

“Top, I…” Jaz trailed off again, trying to form a response that wouldn’t be crossing the imaginary line they seemed to constantly be dancing around. 

“That’s an order, Jaz, do you hear me?” Dalton said again, more firmly. 

“Yeah, copy,” Jaz muttered with her shoulders sagged. She was acknowledging his words, but she wouldn’t make that promise. If they found themselves in that situation again, she would probably make the same decision. She wasn’t sorry now, and she wouldn’t be sorry then. She needed to come to terms with what that meant moving forward with her relationship with Dalton. Because that fuzzy line just got a whole lot more blurry.


End file.
